4 tactics for choosing the right AI solutions for your business

AI is everywhere, at least from a general point of view. But is this part of your business? It depends.

It's undeniable that AI offers many capabilities and opportunities for businesses, and most leaders know it. Surveyed by PwC, 86% of professionals said that AI is an integral part of business life. Yet, while commonplace, AI should not be treated as just another tool.

To get the most out of AI, you must first understand it so you can strategically deploy it in a way that makes the most sense for you, your team, and your goals. Ultimately, you'll optimize your spend and get the most out of every solution and system you bring to your organization. The following steps will help you understand how to integrate AI into your fold.

1. Conduct research on the strengths and limitations of AI.

AI can do a lot. However, it is not suitable for all situations. For example, if you want to aggregate and analyze large pools of data, AI can be useful. The same is true if you want to add AI-powered chatbot functionality to your website to provide customer self-service mechanisms.

How about focusing on driving innovation within your business? AI cannot think on its own. An AI-enhanced program can of course help your employees come up with concepts. However, the AI ​​itself will not produce intelligent ideas because it has limitations that the human brain does not have, namely that it does not really think or have common sense, such as the pointed out an MIT technology review by Boston Globe writer Brian Bergstein.

So where do you start if you want to weigh the pros and cons of AI for your business? One method to sift through all available information about AI is to determine how your industry competitors are using it. Then assess whether these uses will be equally beneficial to you. By being selective, you can make informed choices.

2. Start with small AI experiments.

It can be tempting to integrate all sorts of AI products into your tech stack simultaneously. However, making too many sudden changes could backfire. Also, you may not be able to tell which AI solutions are working and which should be removed.

To avoid this problem, Tiago Ramalho, CEO of AI consultancy Recursive, recommends taking a scientific approach by implementing small tests. “Break down [AI] into minimal viable goals,” Ramalho writes. "Develop a model for the lowest fruits and build from there." He points out that tackling everything in microbites will quickly show any wrong assumptions. When they appear, you can deal with them immediately.

Let's say you want to see how AI could improve your overall customer service capabilities. Instead of revamping all your systems, you might want to try an integration that uses AI, like a note transcription tool. Your supervisors and customer service reps could test the tool before integrating anything else into their workflows.

3. Pair AI with specific goals.

AI systems with lots of gimmicks can make you feel like you're moving faster and farther than other companies. But if they don't help you achieve your goals, they're just traps. This requires you to find a way to measure the effectiveness of all AI implementations. What metrics will work for your team is 100% dependent on your plans.

Take sales, for example.